Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump

The men's high jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 30, 1948. Twenty-seven athletes from 16 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by John Winter of Australia.[2] It was Australia's first victory in the men's high jump, and only the second time a jumper from outside the United States had won. Bjorn Paulson earned Norway's first medal in the event with a silver. George Stanich took bronze, keeping alive the United States' streak of medaling in every edition of the men's high jump.

Men's high jump
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
John Winter jumping
VenueWembley Stadium
DatesJuly 30 (qualifying and final)
Competitors27 from 16 nations
Winning height1.98
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) John Winter
 Australia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Bjorn Paulson
 Norway
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) George Stanich
 United States
← 1936
1952 →

Background

edit

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. The American team, which had won 9 of 10 Olympics and had "dominated the world lists in 1948," was favored.[1]

India, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and Uruguay each made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 11th time, having competed at each edition of the Olympic men's high jump to that point.

Competition format

edit

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1912. There were two distinct rounds of jumping with results cleared between rounds. The qualifying round had the bar set at 1.60 metres, 1.70 metres, 1.80 metres, 1.84 metres, and 1.87 metres. All jumpers clearing 1.87 metres in the qualifying round advanced to the final. The final had jumps at 1.80 metres, 1.87 metres, 1.90 metres, 1.95 metres, and 1.98 metres. This competition used the tie-breaker rule of fewer-misses for the first time.[1][3]

Records

edit

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Les Steers (USA) 2.11 Los Angeles, United States 17 June 1941
Olympic record   Cornelius Johnson (USA) 2.03 Berlin, Germany 2 August 1936

Schedule

edit

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Friday, 30 July 1948 11:00
16:30
Qualifying
Final

Results

edit

Key

  • o = Height cleared
  • x = Height failed
  • = Height passed
  • r  = Retired
  • SB = Season's best
  • PB = Personal best
  • NR = National record
  • AR = Area record
  • OR = Olympic record
  • WR = World record
  • WL = World lead
  • NM = No mark
  • DNS = Did not start
  • DQ = Disqualified

Qualifying round

edit

Qual. rule: qualification standard 1.87m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank Athlete Nation Height Notes
1 John Winter   Australia 1.87 Q
Bjørn Paulson   Norway 1.87 Q
George Stanich   United States 1.87 Q
Dwight Eddleman   United States 1.87 Q
Georges Damitio   France 1.87 Q
Art Jackes   Canada 1.87 Q
Alan Paterson   Great Britain 1.87 Q
Hans Wahli   Switzerland 1.87 Q
Alfredo Jadresic   Chile 1.87 Q
Göran Widenfelt   Sweden 1.87 Q
Pierre Lacaze   France 1.87 Q
Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin   Great Britain 1.87 Q
Birger Leirud   Norway 1.87 Q
Hércules Azcune   Uruguay 1.87 Q
Lloyd Valberg   Singapore 1.87 Q
Vern McGrew   United States 1.87 Q
Kuuno Honkonen   Finland 1.87 Q
Gurnam Singh   India 1.87 Q
Bjørn Gundersen   Norway 1.87 Q
Nils Nicklén   Finland 1.87 Q
21 Arnulf Pilhatsch   Austria 1.84
Benjamín Casado   Puerto Rico 1.84
Claude Bénard   France 1.84
Ioannis Lambrou   Greece 1.84
Pedro Listur   Uruguay 1.84
Arne Åhman   Sweden 1.84
27 Ron Pavitt   Great Britain 1.80

Final

edit
Rank Athlete Nation 1.80 1.87 1.90 1.95 1.98 Height
  John Winter   Australia o o o xo o 1.98
  Bjørn Paulson   Norway o o o o xxx 1.95
  George Stanich   United States o o o xxo xxx 1.95
4 Dwight Eddleman   United States o o xo xxo xxx 1.95
5 Georges Damitio   France o o xxo xxo xxx 1.95
6 Art Jackes   Canada o o o xxx 1.90
7 Alan Paterson   Great Britain o xo xo xxx 1.90
Hans Wahli   Switzerland o xo xo xxx 1.90
9 Alfredo Jadresic   Chile ? ? xxo xxx 1.90
Göran Widenfelt   Sweden ? ? xxo xxx 1.90
Pierre Lacaze   France ? ? xxo xxx 1.90
12 Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin   Great Britain ? ? xxo xxx 1.90
13 Birger Leirud   Norway ? ? xxo xxx 1.90
14 Hércules Azcune   Uruguay ? xxx 1.80
Lloyd Valberg   Singapore ? xxx 1.80
16 Vern McGrew   United States ? xxx 1.80
17 Kuuno Honkonen   Finland ? xxx 1.80
18 Gurnam Singh   India ? xxx 1.80
Bjørn Gundersen   Norway xxx No mark
Nils Nicklén   Finland xxx No mark

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "High Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's High Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 266.

Sources

edit